The 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk are back in contract talks. After all the buzz about Aiyuk departing, and the 49ers reportedly agreeing on trade frameworks with both the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns, the two sides are back at the table.
According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the 49ers are "pushing to get a deal done that keeps Brandon Aiyuk in San Francisco for the long haul."
This comes after NFL Network previously reported that it was likelier for Aiyuk to get traded than for him to sign an extension. The Steelers were reported as the expected destination.
That is a monumental shift in tone, and reflects that both sides have been wielding their leverage aggressively in an effort not to part ways, but to win the deal.
It appears the 49ers called Aiyuk's potential bluff to trade him, which he rejected, at least to the Patriots, on a $32 million per year basis, per ESPN's Mike Reiss. He also did not approve a trade to the Browns. But he held power to push for Pittsburgh, who, per Diana Russini of The Athletic, did not offer assets the 49ers wanted. The most powerful potential trade partner, the Washington Commanders, bowed out, per NBC Sports' Matt Maiocco.
So the longer this thing lingered, and the more you heard reports of "no deal has been agreed to," and that the 49ers were working on something of a three-team trade -- something that rarely, if ever, gets consummated in the NFL -- the more it sounded like an extension was still, quietly, the goal.
That's where things stand. But no deal is done, and if there is anything clear about this situation, it's that both sides are stubborn. Something has to give, and maybe it just has.